Ground 38: Cappielow

Cappielow in the April sun

Game: Greenock Morton 0 v 2 Hamilton Academical

Date: Saturday 27^th April

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 1

Attendance: 1,541

Admission: £15

Programme: £2

Although I’ve only got four grounds to go, I think I can safely say that I’ve found my favourite ground in Scottish football. Welcome to Cappielow, home to Greenock Morton. Obviously, all these things are subjective, and should I have been here in a wet and windy February evening I might have said something different. But I was in Greenock on a mild spring afternoon and the sun was shining. Perfect conditions to watch some football.

Perhaps the fact that this was Morton’s final home game of the season and second place was assured added to the relaxed atmosphere my Dad and I experienced. There was little tension, just a leisurely encounter between two teams who are no doubt already dreaming of next year. Hamilton could potentially finish 3^rd in the First Division, but it would be some distance behind Morton, who ran Partick Thistle close until the start of April.

We arrived at Cappielow around thirty minutes before kick-off which gave us enough time to admire the old ground. Home to Morton since 1879, it’s a compact but fantastic ground. We entered at the Sinclair Street side of the ground and stood for a bit admiring the view of the big crane in the distance. As you can see from the photos it’s a smashing ground and I’d thoroughly recommend you going if you get the chance.

We took a standing position on the half-way line in the covered Cowshed. A pie and a Capri Sun later, I couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t the first SFL ground I’ve been to this season where the ground didn’t stock the league sponsors product (Irn Bru). I have to say, I find this very bizarre and I’d be interested to know why this isn’t the case.

Another terrific aspect of Cappielow is the playing surface. It looked immaculate, only Peterhead could compare from what I’ve seen this season. The pitch also had an ‘old school’ feel to it as there was a definite slope on the pitch, which reminded me of Easter Road when I first started attending games. The Cowshed was also terrific at retaining a lot of noise, I bet it sounds terrific at big cup games and matches against local Renfrewshire rivals St. Mirren.

The game, however, was far from a classic. So far this season, Morton had failed to register a victory over the Accies and today was no different. Accies, who are in the midst of six (now seven) game undefeated streak looked more comfortable and confident on the ball. Morton seemed to have their tactics all wrong. They pumped long balls forward (not the first team I’ve seen down this against the towering Accies’ centre halves) unsuccessfully. More disappointedly, whenever Colin McMenamin or Archie Campbell did break, the support from midfield was lacking.

Even in a benign game like this, there’s still the potential for the referee to wreak havoc, and Alan Muir did that, with a series of poor decisions that were inconsistent and hard to explain. He never once looked in charge of the game.

Accies took the lead in the 39^th minute when an Ali Crawford cross found the prolific Stevie May just inside the box. With some good play he managed to curl the ball into the corner of the net. It was a well-worked goal that even some of the ‘Ton fans surrounding us applauded. A nice touch that was only making it easier for me to enjoy my trip to Cappielow.

May never stopped moving the entire 90 minutes and it will be interesting to see where he’ll be next season after his year-long loan to Hamilton from St Johnstone finishes. He’s had a terrific scoring record in both this and last season, and he grabbed his 14^th for the month ten minutes into the second half when a Michael Devlin header was knocked to the back post for May (who had lost his marker) to poke in.

Morton shuffled the pack, making all three substitutions by the 63^rd minute, but truthfully they were too lumbering on the ball and were caught in possession far too often. They looked most like scoring through Martin Hardie free kicks, but nothing came off for the SFL1 runners-up.

The final whistle brought celebrations from the small band of Accies fans housed in the main stand and warm applause for the Morton players, who were being recognised for a great overall season, rather than today’s off-key performance.